Singapore’s majority-Chinese population should do more to address racism: minister

Finance minister Lawrence Wong says the authorities are ready to update policies to strengthen social harmony

His comments come on the back of recent episodes of racial intolerance that have been hotly debated in the multicultural island nation

Reading Time:4 minutes

It is a reality that in any multiracial nation “it is harder to be a minority than a majority”, Lawrence Wong says. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 6:04pm, 25 Jun 2021Updated: 9:07pm, 25 Jun 2021

Singapore’s majority-Chinese population should do more to address racism-related grievances aired by members of ethnic minority groups, a minister has said in the government’s first major response to the country’s ongoing debate on racism, adding that the authorities are ready to update policies to strengthen social harmony.

The comments by finance minister Lawrence Wong, seen as a potential successor to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, follow weeks of debate – mostly online – over recent episodes of racial intolerance.

Among them was a rare case of racially motivated assault last month that saw an Indian woman kicked by a Chinese man who was shouting slurs.

In the aftermath of these incidents, social media platforms have played host to at times anguished reflections from the country’s minority Malays and Indians over racism they face in school and at the workplace.

Wong said it was important the ongoing conversations took place “with empathy, with humility, with maturity and goodwill towards one another”.

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